Private US aid pours in to help cope with Katrina (over $90 million)

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Private US aid pours in to help cope with Katrina

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Aid agencies tallied more than $90 million in private donations on Thursday as relief efforts cranked up to cope with the widespread devastation, hunger and despair caused by Hurricane Katrina.

"We have never seen an outpouring of support like this in our existence," said Phil Zepeda, spokesman for hunger relief group America's Second Harvest. "It's just tremendous, and the outpouring of support just continues to come."

The American Red Cross alone has received donations of $71.6 million since the storm struck on Monday, with an unprecedented 100,000 phone calls to its emergency hotline a day later, said spokeswoman Deborah Daley.

The donations compare to a little more than the $130 million total the American Red Cross received for last year's four hurricane hits on the southeast United States.